Cost of living payment update: DWP payments, benefits and pensions

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Here are the payment windows that have been announced so far, with more precise dates expected later in the year: £301 – First cost of living payment – already issued between 25 April and 17 May £150 – Disability payment – during summer 2023 £300 – Second cost of living payment – during autumn 2023 £300 – Pensioner payment – during winter 2023/4 £299 – Third cost of living payment – during spring 2024 Bank holiday brings payment schedule change The usual state support in the shape of benefits and pensions payments will also be going out in August, although the arrival of the Summer Bank Holiday on Monday 28 means that anyone expecting to receive their money on that date can typically expect it to be paid into their bank accounts one working day earlier. That applies to anyone expecting to receive any of the following from the DWP in August: Universal credit State pension Pension credit Disability living allowance Personal independence payment Attendance allowance Carer’s allowance Employment support allowance Income support Jobseeker’s allowance For more information on how and when state benefits are paid, please visit the government’s website. The government’s Energy Price Guarantee – introduced by Liz Truss last September to ensure households paid no more than £2,500 for their electricity and gas, with the government subsidising the remainder owed to providers under Ofgem’s Energy Price Cap – was extended by chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his Budget of 15 March for a further three months. That 17 per cent decrease reflects recent drops in wholesale energy prices – the amount energy firms pay for electricity and gas before supplying it to households – and, although it is a significant drop from the eye-watering rates of the last two years, the figure remains more than £1,000 a year above pre-pandemic levels.